


Chasing Blood

by Coeurfroid



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-13
Updated: 2016-09-20
Packaged: 2018-08-08 10:20:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,850
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7753900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Coeurfroid/pseuds/Coeurfroid
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Hero of Ferelden disappeared shortly before the explosion at the Conclave that forever changed the world. Ava Lavellan, the Inquisitor and so-called Herald of Andraste is tasked with finding the missing Hero of Ferelden so that they may fight Corypheus side by side.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

“But I’m the Inquisitor!” 

“Which is the exact reason you must go. Can’t you see how inspiring this will be to the people? The Inquisitor who saved the world fighting side by side with the Hero who saved Ferelden? We’d have so many people flocking to our banner we wouldn’t even know where to put them all. Besides, from my research it seems the only people capable of actually killing an archdemon are Wardens. I can not think of a more qualified Warden to slay the Archdemon than Warden-Commander Surana. ” Josephine said crisply, clearly anticipating Ava's excuses. The young mage sighed, running her hand through her dark brown hair; it was one of those rare days where she hadn’t the energy to twist her wavy locks into a complex series of braids. 

“Augh. Your logic will be the death of me, Lady Montilyet.” Ava grumbled, crossing her arms across her chest. 

“A worthy ending, your worship.” The Antivan ambassador said with a smug smirk. She released a piece of paper from her overloaded clipboard and handed it to Ava to examine. 

“This is a letter Leliana has received from one of her contacts; it’s a supposed sighting of the Hero of Ferelden, nothing exactly concrete. But it is a start and it is imperative that we find her.” Josephine said. Ava stared at the report, her eyes practically burning a hole into the subject of the report; Ophelia Surana, the missing Hero of Ferelden. Even Ava, a Dalish clan member and Free Marcher native had heard tales of the brave Grey Warden. Never in her life did she think she would actually end up meeting her. Then again, she never thought she would be leading an army against a self proclaimed god; funny how life works. 

“The Emerald Graves? What would she be doing in that area?” Ava asked, incredulous. For once, the Antivan noble had no reply. 

“That is simply what the report says. However, I have more for you to go on than a simple sighting.” Josephine admitted, pacing around the room. 

“You are aware of what a phylactery is, yes? All circle mages are given a phylactery when they pass their Harrowing, enabling templars to hunt them down should they ever turn apostate. While the Circle Tower was nearly destroyed during the Fifth Blight and countless phylacteries destroyed in the mage rebellion, the Hero of Ferelden’s phylactery was stored in Denerim.” Josephine explained, narrowing her eyes. Ava's skin crawled. Growing up in a Dalish clan, she had next to no experiences in with the Circle and based on the stories she was told, she was certain she’d missed out on nothing. Still though, this news of forcibly taking a mage’s blood should they ever fight for their freedom was not exactly surprising. 

“And I’m guessing you want me to find it.” Ava said, piecing everything together. 

“We have no idea if the phylactery remains yet in Denerim and frankly we as an organization do not have the sway to convince the chantry to let us check. You, however, do.” Josephine continued, handing Ava another piece of paper. This paper seemed to be a city map and various markers littered the worn piece of paper. 

“Well seeing as I have no choice in the matter, I suppose I should get going as soon as possible. I’ll let my company know we’ll be leaving soon.” Ava said, folding the pieces of papers Josephine had given her into her pocket. 

“That is the other thing, Inquisitor. I suggest that you let Commander Cullen accompany you on this mission.” Josephine said hesitantly. Ava's brows furrowed. Cullen? It wasn’t as if the two were on bad terms but they had never really spoken to each other outside of Inquisition matters and Cullen rarely accompanied anyone on a mission. 

“I am aware that seems odd, believe me. However Warden-Commander Surana was once a charge of Cullen’s, I believe the two knew each other quite well. In addition to that, Cullen was a templar. You may find his tracking skills to prove invaluable.” Josephine explained, her attention diverted to a marker on the war table. That came as a shock to Ava; Cullen had never mentioned knowing the Hero of Ferelden whatsoever. While she never spoke to him about anything other than a professional matter, Ava figured anyone would be eager to mention the fact that they had been acquainted with the famous Grey Warden. 

“Huh. Small world then.” Ava replied. 

“I suggest you speak to the Commander about a departure time as soon as possible, Inquisitor. We are counting on you to find Warden Surana.” Josephine suggested as she beckoned Ava toward the door. 

"Aren't you always?" Ava muttered under he breath as she exited the War Room.

 

****

Ava could count the number of times she had visited Commander Cullen’s office on both hands. Standing outside the Commander’s door, the elven mage felt out of place and slightly nervous. Even though he was extremely cordial to her, Ava had always felt to some degree that he hadn’t liked her very much; perhaps that was the paranoid mage in her speaking. Taking a deep breath, she knocked on the door. 

“You may come in.” A terse voice replied. It sounded as if he were in a hurry. Ava shrugged and pushed the door open, surprised to see Cullen in rather casual clothes. She’d never seen him wear anything other than that ridiculously fluffy cloak and armor. Cullen straightened up immediately upon seeing her. 

“Inquisitor! I, uh, wasn’t expecting you, I apologize. I thought you were one of the recruits.” Cullen said sheepishly. 

“That’s alright. I figured we don’t talk nearly enough for you to know my voice.” Ava said, partly joking partly serious. Cullen frowned at her, obviously displeased with her comment. 

“I apologize, Inquisitor.” he said solemnly. 

“No, Cullen I was just- it actually doesn’t matter. I came here to discuss our mission.” Ava said, flustered. 

“-Our- mission?” 

“Contacting the Hero of Ferelden?” Ava said, confused. Recognition spread across Cullen’s face and he nodded. 

“Apologies Inquisitor, I’ve been rather distracted.” Cullen said, absentminded. He sighed, staring at the enormous piles of reports on his desk. Ava grimaced. She hadn’t realized how much paperwork went on behind the scenes. For her it was just fighting on the front lines; she hadn’t put much thought into how much work it took to actually get her there. 

“That’s a looot of paperwork you have there. Yikes.” Ava said, unaware of what else to say. This whole encounter felt awkward to her and she was dying to leave. 

“You’re telling me.” Cullen scoffed, shuffling some papers from one side of his desk to the other. He ran his fingers through his curly blonde hair, clearly stressed, and sighed once again. 

“Right. Well I figured we should leave as soon as possible. I can get my company ready to go in a few hours, if that works for you?” Ava said hesitantly. 

“Yes, that would be excellent, Inquisitor.” Cullen said softly, gazing at a crumpled up piece of paper on the corner of his desk. 

 

****

 

“So, you never told me you were friends with the Hero of Ferelden.” Ava said, hoping to break the awkward silence between the two. Currently, the Commander and the Inquisitor (plus Varric, Cassandra and Dorian) were en route to Denerim, where they’d hoped to find the Warden-Commander’s phylactery. So far the journey had proven relatively incident free, the only issue being the frequent awkward silences between Cullen and Ava. 

“I imagine she must have been amazing to meet. Though I guess you couldn’t be aware of how great she would become at that time. Still though, I’ve always wondered what she was like.” Ava said, wistfully thinking of all the tales she’d been told about the Hero of Ferelden. 

“Do you now?” Cullen said, shifting uncomfortably. 

“Oh of course! She’s an inspiration to me, y’know. An elven mage kicking darkspawn ass and saving a bunch of shems? Mythal, could there be anything greater than that?” Ava said dreamily. 

“Shems?” Cullen stared at her, seemingly uncomfortable yet again. Ava blushed. As usual she had spoken without thinking. 

“That’s our word for humans. My clan I mean. Or, well, all Dalish clans. Have you met many Dalish, Commander?” Ava retorted, quick to change the subject. 

“I’m afraid not, Inquisitor. There weren’t many clans near the Ferelden circle and I didn’t really leave the Kirkwall circle much.” Cullen admitted. 

“Oh, that’s a shame. We’re a lovely bunch.” Ava said, smiling. 

"By the way, you don’t have to keep calling me Inquisitor; you can call me Ava if you’d like.” the elven mage said sheepishly. Cullen gave her a slight smile and nodded. 

“As you wish.” Ava felt her face burning and cringed as she imagined how red her face must have looked to the commander. Luckily her face was mostly obscured by her cloak’s hood. Never had she been so grateful for ill fitting shem clothing. 

“So back to the Hero of Ferelden, why did you never mention her?” Ava asked. Once again, Cullen shifted uncomfortably as he glanced back at the curious mage. 

“We weren’t as close as Josephine would have you think. If anyone’s close to her I’d say that’s Leliana. She personally accompanied the Hero on her quest.” Cullen said, almost deflecting. Ava pouted. She’d heard all the stories from Leliana before. The former bard was an excellent story teller but that didn’t account for Commander Surana’s time before becoming a Grey Warden. Cullen should have plenty of information on that. 

“Trust me, I think I’ve harassed our spymaster enough with all of my questions.” Ava said, chuckling. Cullen flashed her a sympathetic smile. 

“Perhaps we should make camp for the night, yes?” Cassandra called out. Ava snapped her head back looked at the Nevarran warrior with relief. 

“That’s an excellent idea, I’m exhausted.”


	2. Chapter 2

Cullen sighed for perhaps the hundredth time that day. While he knew there was no escaping the past he hadn’t expected to be reminded of his so quickly. He also hadn’t expected the Inquisitor to be so…curious. He supposed that was what he got for never interacting with the young mage before. It was not for a lack of trying; he’d just never found the time to sit down with the Inquisitor and talk about things that didn’t involve the impending end of the world. He wondered how Ava found the time to become friends with practically everyone at Skyhold. Perhaps it was just her personality; she seemed to exude confidence and was perhaps the most friendly elf Cullen had ever met in his life. Of course that is not say she didn’t have her shortcomings; from what he’d heard she was not particularly great at magic, just skilled enough to fight and defend herself. She was nothing like Ophelia. 

Cullen cringed just thinking about her. Ophelia was a very talented mage. Her Harrowing was smooth and quick, perhaps the fastest Harrowing he’d ever witnessed. She seemed to use magic with great ease, epitomizing the Chantry’s teaching that “magic exists to serve man”. Despite his general fear of mages, Ophelia was the only mage Cullen was ever simultaneously afraid and in awe of. Perhaps she was a better mage because she was raised in the Circle. Cullen wasn’t very familiar with the Dalish in general, let alone how they trained their mages. He’d decided to make it a point to ask Ava when he next saw her. For now, the curly haired commander focused his attention on his crudely drawn map of Denerim. Leliana indicated places of interest for the duo to investigate with markers, something Cullen was highly appreciative of. Just then, Cullen noticed someone tugging at the entrance to his tent. 

“C’mon Curly. You can't isolate yourself for the entire trip.” He’d heard a raspy voice say. 

“Varric, I’m rather busy-“

“Oh come on Curly. I’m not asking you to sacrifice your first born here, all I’m asking you to do is come join us on the outside world.” the dwarf said, crossing his arms across his chest. Cullen sighed. If what the report about Ophelia’s whereabouts were correct, he would be traveling with the Inquisitor and her companions for quite a while; it might be wise to get used to spending some time with them. 

“Alright. But I’m not playing Wicked Grace with you.” the Commander said, still jilted from his last game with the dwarven rogue. 

“I’ll find a way to talk you into it one day.” Varric chuckled and nodded, motioning for Cullen to come outside and join the rest of the crew. Upon exiting, Cullen noticed Ava conversing with Dorian near the fire. Cullen felt a little weary. While he was getting used to the non-templar life he still felt uneasy around mages. 

“Look who came to join us!” Varric said, smiling as he sat down near the fire. 

“Ah, if it isn’t the ever elusive Commander.” Ava commented, giving him a wide smile. She had a smile just like Ophelia; Cullen felt his cheeks heat up. He quickly made his way around the fire and sat next to Cassandra. Ava insisted the Seeker also join them on their quest, perhaps in order to lend her experience in tracking down mages. Whatever the reason, Cullen was grateful for Cassandra’s presence. If there was anyone in the Inquisition he felt comfortable around, it was Cassandra. 

“How are you finding the journey, Cullen?” Cassandra asked, giving him a short smile. 

“Interesting.” was all he had to say. 

“It must be, what with you never going on a mission and all.” Ava added, making her way over to the two. 

“I admit, it is rather odd to actually be out in the field for once.” Cullen replied, smiling. That was not a lie; the Commander had almost forgotten what not being surrounded by a mountain of paperwork was like. 

“Unfortunately for you, or fortunately depending on how you look at it, there don't seem to be any bandits or darkspawn wandering around. Pity.” Ava said. 

“Trust me, I am in no rush to encounter darkspawn.” Cullen chuckled, feeling himself grow at ease with the mage. All the stories about her seemed to be correct. Somehow, she was just very easy to get along with. 

“I’m with you on that one. Fen’Harel knows I’m not the best at fighting.” Ava admitted with a small shrug. 

“I was actually wondering about that. What role does magic play in your clan? You must be taught differently than at the Circle.” Cullen brought up. 

“Ah, you picked up on that. You’re rather clever, aren’t you?” Ava admitted. Cullen felt his cheeks burning up again and gave her an awkward smile. 

“The best way I can describe it is this; in Clan Lavellan, we use our magic out of necessity. Be it for healing, hunting or planting we primarily use our magic for the good of the clan. The only time I really ever fought was when defending my clan from…hostile humans. Even then, nothing lethal.” Ava explained. 

“Which is exactly why I’m here.” Dorian chimed in from across the camp. Ava smiled once again. 

“Yes, I must admit, Dorian is rather skilled at killing things.” she said, poking fun at her Tevinter friend. 

“She can jest all she wants, you’ll be thanking me when we’re swarmed by enemies and Miss Lavellan over here is too busy building a barrier to actually fight one of them.” Dorian said, this time talking to Cullen. The wave of uneasiness washed over Cullen yet again. 

“And…you’re all safe, I assume? From…?” 

“Corruption? I understand old habits are hard to kill but Maker’s breath Commander, have some faith. Ava maybe not be the strongest fighter but her will power is incredible. And believe me, you needn’t worry much about me.” Dorian replied curtly. Cullen felt some reassurance but not much. No matter how hard they tried, Cullen would never be fully convinced that a mage was ever truly incorruptible. All mages were vulnerable, whether they admitted it or not. 

“Right…in any event, I’d like to go over the plan with you, Ava, if that’s alright.” Cullen said, eager to change the subject. The dark haired elf shrugged. 

“Let’s see what you have.” she said, following the Commander to his tent. Cullen nodded, grateful to be talking about anything other than magic. Once at his small tent, Cullen grabbed the map of Denerim he’d been examining earlier. 

“We’re not too far away from Denerim, in fact we should be there by midday tomorrow if all goes according to plan. Once we get there I suggest we investigate the Chantry and see what they know. It might be best if I do the talking though.” 

“Right. Almost forgot I was an elven mage for a second. Twice the horror for the Chantry.” Ava said dryly. Cullen looked up at her, noticing her features for the first time. Her smooth brown hair was not in its trademark tight bun but rather in a loose braid that trailed down her back. And of course there were the ears; they were pointed but rather small and seemed to jut out just a little bit. A light blue tattoo was etched into her freckled olive skin and her hazel eyes appeared to be staring daggers at the map Cullen held in his hand. She had a small and slender frame, typical for an elf, and was about a foot shorter than Cullen. 

“I’m sorry, I don’t mean to offend, Inquisitor.” Cullen said, looking down. Ava shook her head and sighed. 

“Don’t apologize, it’s not exactly your doing is it?”. Cullen looked up again and frowned. He’d never really thought about the discrimination she must have faced and the shock it must have been adjusting to life in Ferelden. 

“It must be hard adjusting to Ferelden.” he said softly, looking into Ava’s eyes. Her face seemed to soften a bit and she gave him a tiny nod.

“I’m used to being around others of my kind and not being automatically distrusted for the magic I was born with. To say it’s been hard to adjust is an understatement.” Ava admitted cooly. Cullen winced, realizing he hadn’t exactly been remedying the problem. 

“I’m sorry.” he replied. Ava only gave him a shrug. 

“So, I got the impression you don’t really like talking about the Hero of Ferelden…why is that?” she said, changing the subject. Cullen sighed again. He knew this was going to come up but he’d hoped to avoid it for as long as possible. 

“I don’t have fond memories of my time in the Circle. Perhaps we can leave it at that.” Cullen said defensively. Ava nodded, slightly embarrassed. 

“Of course. I’ll see you in the morning, Cullen.”


	3. Chapter 3

Cullen’s evasiveness was driving Ava crazy. He refused to give her any helpful information regarding the Hero of Ferelden and seemed to almost distrust her. She didn’t have fond memories of most of the missions she went on yet she was still forced to recount them over and over again and never so much as batted an eye. Frustrated, Ava made her way over to her tent, eager to at least rest for the night. 

“I trust your meeting with the Commander didn’t go to well.” she heard a familiar voice call out. Ava rolled her eyes. 

“No Dorian, it did not. He refuses to tell me anything about the Hero of Ferelden!” Ava said, reducing her voice to a hushed whisper. The Tevinter mage raised an eyebrow at Ava.

“What more do you need to know about this Warden-Commander? She saved the day, then she went missing. What else do you need?” Dorian asked. Ava narrowed her eyes at Dorian. She supposed he was right. The information she truly wanted from Cullen wasn’t exactly necessary to complete the mission. She just wanted to know more about her hero. 

“You know I hate saying this but you’re right.” 

“As usual.” Dorian replied, smirking. Ava rolled her eyes at him before breaking into a grin. The two had become fast friends ever since their adventure at Redcliffe Castle. No one else but Dorian could possibly understand the horrors she saw in that strange future and they’d just bonded easily. Dorian was also instrumental in instructing Ava in controlling her magic. He taught her new spells and showed her how to bend magic to her will, something she was not used to doing back home. Solas was helpful to a degree but was too focused on the Fade, something Ava didn’t have much interest in, which is why she preferred Dorian as her teacher. 

“Go to bed you Tevinter freak. We have a long day ahead of us.” Ava said, heading inside her own tent. 

****  
The next day’s journey seemed slightly less awkward. To her surprise Cullen actually seemed interested in talking to her and for the first time since she met him, the two were talking about something other than the Inquisition or the mission at hand. 

“Okay, I’m going to have to admit I have no idea where that is.” Ava said. 

“I wouldn’t expect you to. Ferelden’s a big place.” Cullen said. 

“So I’ve noticed. It has its charm though.” Ava replied. 

“It does. I’d almost forgotten what it looked like, actually. I haven’t been here in around ten years.” Cullen admitted as he looked downward. 

“Ten years?! That’s such a long time. I can’t….I can’t imagine being away from my clan that long.” Ava replied, remembering that she hadn’t seen her own family in over a year. She hated thinking about being farther from them even longer than she had to. Cullen seemed to notice Ava’s sadness. 

“I’m sure you’ll see them again. Perhaps you can arrange a trip with Josephine.” Cullen said, trying his best to be optimistic. Ava smiled at him, grateful for his effort. 

“I suppose so but we have more pressing matters at hand. Can’t very well ignore a hole in the sky spewing out demons, can we?” Ava said, grinning. 

“No, but wouldn’t it be nice if we could?” Cullen chuckled. Ava smiled, happy for a non awkward rapport with the former templar. The mage squinted her eyes at the sign in front of her. Denerim. She’d never been to this city but she’d heard less than stellar reports about it. She knew that it was a large city and had a rather awful alienage in it. It was also reportedly the birth place of Warden Surana. 

“So, this is it. I suppose we should head for the chantry.” Ava said, slipping into a more serious voice. Cullen nodded and led the group through the city gates. Even though Ava left her clan over a year ago, she was still getting used to human settlements. She’d seen a few cities during her time in Inquisition, the most notable being Val Royeux. 

Denerim was nothing like Val Royeaux. It was dirty and grimy and lacked the vibrance and opulence of the Orelesian city. The buildings were grey and dull and the citizens walking around looked like skeletons. Ava was not impressed. Eventually, the group reached their destination and for the first time in her life, Ava was glad to be in a Chantry. She followed Cullen, remaining silent the entire time. She doubted anyone in the chantry wanted to talk to an elf such as her self. After walking around and several minutes of Cullen asking around, they eventually reached the Revered Mother. 

“Greetings travelers. What may I do for you?” the revered mother said, smiling at Cullen. 

“We’re with the Inquisition and we’re here in search of a phylactery.” Cullen said, eyeing the mother. The revered mother quickly looked to Cullen’s side and noticed Ava before pursing her lips. 

“I can’t give this mage her phylactery if that’s what you’re asking me to do.” The revered mother said flat. She crossed her arms across her chest visibly annoyed and Ava felt herself grow more impatient. 

“We’re actually looking for Warden-Surana’s phylactery.” Ava replied curtly, staring the revered mother down. 

“And you expect me to just hand it over to you? Why would I trust some elf mage with the Hero of Ferelden’s blood; for all I know you’ll perform some twisted blood magic with it. I’m going to have to ask you to leave the chantry.” she retorted. Ava had expected there to be some friction retrieving the phylactery but not to this extent. 

“Because that’s the Inquisitor and it’s imperative that she’s given that phylactery.” Cullen growled, his patience wearing thin. The revered mother’s face flushed and her jaw dropped. She immediately began to apologize. 

“Inquisitor! My sincerest apologies I wasn’t expecting you to…” 

“Look so much like an elf? Be a mage? I’d appreciate it if you hurried up and got me that phylactery.” Ava said flatly, placing her hands on her hips. 

“Right away, Herald.” she said quickly before scurrying off. Ava let out a sigh of relief and glanced at Cullen. He seemed troubled. 

“Does that happen a lot?” 

“Only with people who don’t know who I am.” Ava retorted, giving the blonde commander a curt smile. She was glad the confrontation was over; as much as she had gotten used to the way humans treated her she definitely was not fond of it. Cullen’s brows furrowed as if the idea of an elven mage being treated differently was a foreign concept to him. He would never truly understand. His concern did not go unnoticed. 

“Don’t worry commander, it doesn’t bother me as much as you may think it would. At this point, I’m very used to it.” Ava said, giving the tall commander a pat on the shoulder. 

“But you shouldn’t have to be. That’s not right.” Cullen insisted, slight anger in his voice. Ava was surprised. She’d envisioned Cullen as a diehard templar who probably didn’t care much for the plight of elves or mages. His annoyance came as a bit of a shock for the Inquisitor. Before Ava had a chance to respond, the Revered Mother was back, this time carefully holding a phylactery in her hands. 

“I can only guess what you need this for. May the Maker watch over you.” the old woman said sagely before handing the vial over to Cullen. Ava stared at the small vial, chills running through out her body. The vial was contained in a golden necklace or sorts and the vials twisted into the middle. Truth be told, it was not as much blood as she thought. Cullen glanced up at Ava as if waiting for the next order. 

“We should head out then, right?” 

*****

Varric, Cassandra and Dorian had decided to go to a local pub while Cullen and Ava stayed behind to plan the journey for the next day. Ava promised to join them once they finished, but truthfully, she had no intention of fulfilling that promise. She was tired and all she wanted to do was retire to her tent and relax for the evening. Cullen seemed equally as drained. 

“So, how does that phylactery thingy work anyway?” Ava asked, eyeing the chain it was attached to as Cullen made marks on a map. 

“Basically the blood will grow lighter or darker depending on how close we are to her.” Cullen replied, looking up at Ava. The mage’s brows furrowed. 

“Sooo…basically we’re just playing one big game of hot or cold?” She asked, incredulous. Cullen chuckled. 

“Well, when you put it like that…” Cullen replied, eliciting a small giggle from Ava. 

“That hardly seems effective. Makes the Templars seem less scary.” she sighed, taking a seat on Cullen’s rolled out sleeping mat. The former templar frowned. 

“We’re not all bad people, Ava.” 

“And not all mages are bad people either, Commander.” She replied. 

“I don’t think all mages are bad people.” Cullen retorted pointedly. Ava snorted and rolled her eyes. 

“I’ve seen the way you look at Dorian and me. You don’t trust us.” the elven mage fired back, crossing her arms across her chest. 

“It’s not that I don’t trust you I just… I was at the Ferelden Circle when it fell. I’ve seen the horrors that magic can yield and I will never be able to forget them either.” Cullen said quietly averting eye contact with Ava. Her gaze softened. Hailing from a clan with only one other mage, she’d never seen the abominations mages could become. She realized it must have been terrifying for someone with no magic to feel so powerless. 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know.” Ava replied softly. 

“I know.” Cullen responded, as if accepting her apology. He let out a deep sigh and turned his attention back to the map. 

“The phylactery is rather dark right now, so I’m assuming Leliana’s lead about the Emerald Graves is correct. It would be wise if we head eastward tomorrow morning. We’ve got a long journey.” Cullen said stiffly. Ava only nodded, she had nothing more to say.


End file.
